Sunday, December 16, 2012

Bank for International Settlements: The World is Risking A Fresh Credit Bubble

When the BIS talks, we listen.
From the Telegraph:

Asset prices across the world have risen to heady levels not seen since the
credit boom five years ago and may be losing touch with economic reality yet
again, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.

“Some asset prices appeared highly valued in a historical context relative to
indicators of their riskiness,” said the bank in its quarterly report.

Yields on morgtage bonds have fallen to the lowest level ever recorded.
Spreads on corporate debt have narrowed to the wafer thin margins of 2007,
even though default rates are currently three times higher than they were
then for junk bonds and twice as high for investment-grade companies.

The venerable Swiss-based institution – almost alone in warning of a global debt
crisis in the build-up to the Great Recession – said it is rare for
markets to gather steam at a time when the major forecasters are turning
gloomy.

The International Monetary Fund and the OECD have downgraded their outlooks
for 2012 and 2013, with sharp cuts for much of Europe as well as for Brazil,
China, and India.

“Unusually, equity and fixed income gains coincided with a weakening of the
global economic outlook. In the past, falling growth forecasts have usually
been associated with rising expected default rates and higher bond yields,”
it said....MORE